This might be a winter for the record books. Our rain season begins in October and ususally ends in March. During that time we hope to get our annual rainfall of 12-15 inches. This year we’ve exceeded our annual rainfall in January. We also experienced very warm temperatures in January with some folks nicknaming the month ‘June-uary’! This means the Cuyama Valley is very green and with the warm June weather wildflowers are beginning to bloom. At Condor’s Hope we were able to plant our winter cover crop of vetch and oats in October after the first rains and it grows thick and lush between the dormant vineyard rows. The rains have continued into February, but winter temperatures have returned bringing snow to the mountain tops. It is all quite stunning, though we imagine the plants are rather confused. For Condor’s Hope it also means that we will not need to irrigate throughout our hot, dry summer due to our dry-farm management of the vineyard and olive trees. The winter creates the foundation for the growth cycle ahead and we feel the joy in this winter’s natural abundance.
